UCD boss O'Neill delighted to make Europe

UCD boss Collie O'Neill was delighted to find out about the Students' qualification for the 2015/16 Europa League first qualifying round on Friday morning – his wife, however, may have been less pleased given that she is due to give birth around the time of the game in July!

Given that each year the first qualifying round of the Europa League contains sides from far flung destinations such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Iceland – to name but a few – those associated with UCD could be forgiven for hoping that the draw (slotted to take place at the end of June) keeps them closer to home.

And the UCD boss revealed to Extratime.ie that Mrs. O'Neill has more reason than most to hope for this outcome, joking: “With my wife due her third baby four days before the first European game, I hope it's not too far away!”

The First Division side won their place in Europe through the UEFA Respect Fair Play League – the Republic of Ireland finished third in the table behind the Netherlands and England. Dundalk and Cork City topped the League of Ireland Fair Play League here, but with both sides having qualified for Europe via their Premier Division positions last season, the extra Europa League place has been awarded to third-placed UCD.

“It's not bad in your first season to make Europe, is it?” said O'Neill, tongue in cheek. “Manager of the year already!

“The news only broke this morning but we've known a bit about it in the background because we've had a lot of paperwork to fill in lately just in case it did come about, so we knew there was something brewing,” added O'Neill. “But you still have to wait for the official confirmation. We didn't want to say anything to the players in order to let them concentrate on our main job of getting back up to the Premier Division.

“It's great, it's great for the club. It'll give the place such a boost and financially as well the reward out of it will help us to add to the infrastructure that we have already in place.”

With the hard work of qualifying done, the process of acquiring a UEFA license to compete is now underway and O'Neill – himself a holder of a UEFA A license coaching badge – is confident that there will be no problems in this regard.

“There's a precedent in place for where non-league teams or teams from a lower division win a cup competition and then through that qualify into Europe,” said O'Neill. “So there is a precedent there where the manager doesn't need a Pro Badge and you work off a lower criteria. That's the route we'll be looking to take.

“It's another little thing to plan, it's a nice little thing to look forward to. Still, even though it's a nice little thing, our main priority is still to try and get back to that Premier Division. That is the key.” added the UCD boss ahead of tonight's First Division clash with Athlone Town in Lissywollen.

The 2015/16 Europa League will be the Students' first foray into European competition since qualifying for the 2000 Intertoto Cup where they met Bulgarian side Velbazhd Kyustendil – the first leg in Belfield Park ended 3-3, a result which saw UCD eliminated on away goals as they drew the away leg 0-0. 

The club's only other appearance in Europe came in the 1984-85 Cup Winner's Cup where they lost 1-0 to eventual tournament winners Everton over two legs - and with the Toffees currently vying with West Ham United to be beneficiary of England's Fair Play ranking, a repeat of that meeting is on the cards.